CJ’s Surf and Turf

Wanted badly for this restaurant to be good. Three of us ate here on a Saturday night and other than the waitresses there was little else to comment about. When we entered the restaurant and it immediately was a bad presentation. There was no hostess or signage to tell you to wait or seat yourself. After we located a waitress she took us to a table and took our drink orders. After we ordered our food, scallops with baked potato and asparagus, scallops with mac and cheese and sweat potato fries, and salmon with sweat potato fries applesauce. The waitress continued to check on us but the first words out her mouth were "I'm so sorry for the wait." Never a good sign. Just shy of one hour after we ordered the food came. My scallops were cold and had an ammonia taste which usually indicates bad seafood. The baked potato was very small and the asparagus was churchy because it was over grilled. The other scallops were also cold but had good flavor, the fries were cold and the mac and cheese was undercooked bowties in alfredo sauce. The salmon had good flavor but was cold, fries were undercooked and cold and applesauce is hard to be bad. For a $30.00ish meal one should expect a cleaner dining area, bread for the table, glass drinkware instead of plastic, maybe a salad offering and certainly nothing coming out cold after an hour wait. Let me say again, the waitresses were fantastic but had to be over apologetic because of the slowness of the kitchen staff.For me this restaurant will not get a second look. Prices were not too high for the type of food we ordered but way too high for the quality we received. I feel bad about this review simply because I wanted this place to be better than it could ever actually be.

Thought we would try this new restaurant out on a Friday night.We were greeted and seated immediately. Drink order was taken quickly as was our food order.We both ordered the prime rib. We both had the asparagus.I had the baked potato and my wife had the sweet potato waffle fries. It took a little while to get our food, but we weren't in a hurry so no big deal. The food was awesome. It was cooked like we ordered and all had a great taste and portions were more than we could finish. At the end we were offered a free desert. Definitely will be back again and will probably try the seafood next time.

So so so horrific. When I placed my order for their prime rib, I asked for a 'rare medium rare' and said if they were going to err on temperature, under cook it.The firs time they brought out my meal, it was WELL done - not even a tinge of pink. Second time - I don't know how they did it, but it was even more well done and grey. It's like they sliced the rib then cooked it.Only positives - the baked potatoes were 'ok' at least hot, and we weren't charged for their f up.Do not recommend.

This very new restaurant deserves a try. Meat quality is excellent, and with some work, this could definitely fill a need. Nadia, our young waitress, was attentive and friendly. Prices are high for Johnstown, and the restaurant needs to work at making the experience match the price tag, since a decent steak can be had for substantially less in other area bars and restaurants. Setting remains more appropriate to the wings restaurant that CJ's replaced than a $30-per-steak restaurant. You walk up wooden stairs through a messy staging area, then choose between the cafeteria-plain dining room or the picnic-style outdoor balcony. Tables are bargain-basement basic and completely bare, without even salt and pepper shakers (provided upon request). Silverware was stained, and cloth napkins were speckled with lint. BYOB is invited, since they do not yet have a liquor license, but don't expect wineglasses. "I could get you a cup," the waitress said when I asked about glasses for our bottle of wine. The food, however, was a star. Our mushroom ravioli appetizer was excellent and generously portioned: fresh mushrooms in what seemed to be homemade pasta, in a perfectly seasoned cream sauce. Paired with a salad, it would make a great entree. The salad was basic but fresh, with dressing in a small plastic cup. Our steaks (a ribeye and a prime rib) were excellent: perfectly cooked and very tender. Side dishes (baked potato, asparagus, macaroni and cheese made with bowtie pasta) were all good. Desserts (cheesecakes and creme brulee) sounded enticing, perhaps something to try in a future visit. Pacing and selection are issues. Two of the five steak dishes on the menu were unavailable (no filet mignon or NY strip), though a ribeye was offered as a replacement. The table next to us ordered a seafood dish that was also unavailable. When a menu is small, omissions are felt; the lady at the table near us, not a steak-eater, had to settle for side dishes. And at this price point, courses should be delivered at the appropriate times. My salad arrived before we were even halfway through our shared appetizer, and our steaks arrived before we had finished the appetizer and before I had even started my salad--not good for eating steak at the appropriate temperature. The kitchen needs to communicate with waitstaff to ensure steaks are fired at the appropriate times. Dessert was not offered; our check was left on the table as we finished our entrees. Perhaps desserts were also unavailable? Overall, CJ's seems to know food preparation better than it knows restaurant management. Since going out for an expensive dinner involves the experience as well as the food, this is something to work on, but it should not be difficult to correct. Steaks this good deserve a front-of-house experience to match.

I don't know where to start. How about the worst most dangerous steps ever going into the restaurant. The waitress obviously was very inexperienced but tried her best. The real problems were the atmosphere and the food. Kids were downstairs apparently where the kitchen is and screaming and yelling. The building including the tables left a lot to be desired. After placing our order we decided to change one of our sides but no waitress around. No one else was in the restaurant. Kids screaming downstairs. My wife called the restaurant phone number and told the man who answered that we were upstairs and could not find the waitress. His reply sounded like he said she must be out of the building. I'll call her! Getting to the meal, the rolls were the highlight of the meal. Both of our asparagus was extremely overcooked and limp and slimy. My salmon was overcooked, greasy and dry. My wife's fish was good but extremely greasy. I thought the prices were high for Johnstown but if the food was better I would have no problem paying those prices, but it was far from good.I really can't find the words to really express how disappointed we were. We wanted to give a new place a fair chance and really were hoping it would be a great place to frequent especially because of the proximity to our house.Needless to say we were very dissappointed.

The restaurant floor was dirty and worn out. No decorations or anything anywhere. The waiter was great. They were out of quite a few things on the menu. The food was good but the portions were ridiculously small. My salmon couldn't have been two ounces and my asparagus consisted of six skinny stalks. The salad was terrific. They had no coffee or tea. We all got cheesecake and the sliver was only about one inch wide. The steaks were nice size and cooked well. All in all we were disappointed.